playing drums, for the first time in awhile

so this is the first time I have tried integrating my acoustic and electric setups together. normally I play the electronic drums and my laptop and bass guitar when I am by myself and play full acoustic drums when I play with other people
the view from behind the drum set, is one of my favorite views


Of all the things I do, playing drums is one of my favorites. I don’t get to play often because I am usually busy doing other things like making art, and working and I usually don’t have the space to play my full kit. I stay in practice mostly by playing on my electronic drum pad and occasionally I play bass to keep my sense of rhythm and my dexterity up to speed. But yesterday I got the chance to set up my full drum kit along with my laptop and electronic drum pad. This was a real challenge as I played the laptop and electronics with my left hand and the drum set with my right hand. Yesterday also got really great when I got the email that I was included in the paper cuts show in berkeley california, which will be in september. Drumming is great, there is no experience for me that is more fully immersive than playing drums. For me the aesthetics, the mechanics and the noise are wonderful. since I was kid and I got my first drum I have always appreciated everything about the way in which drums function. I am one of those people who really likes the drums. Whenever I am in charleston I try and get together with Phil estes, and make some noise. and this occasion was no different. Normally he plays his guitar and I play my drums, but this time was a little more techy. Phil recently got a new vocoder so we took a stab at doing some slightly synthy stuff, it was fun and almost entirely improvised. but that is not to say we didn’t rock out, I ran the camera during some of it and tried to edit together the highlights. I want to warn you that this video will be boring to anyone who isn’t a band geek, or has played in a band before.